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movie Glossary
Obligatory M & M Shot
Every movie that features a scene in an Arab or Islamic country will begin the scene with a shot of a mosque tower (minaret), or the sound of the muezzin, or both. OSAMAH ABDULLATIF, Muscat, Oman
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If we had the British Constitution, Oprah Winfrey would be our queen.

It isn't an elected position. You're born into it.

You have no legislative power, but the leaders of both political parties consult with you and advise you of their plans.

by By Peter Debruge
Guest Columnist


Dear Roger,

I value your opinion, but question your reporting on this anti-3-D essay you've written for The Spectator [London]. Movies do earn more in 3-D (I don't have the statistics in front of me, but I know that "Coraline" earned 85% of its box office on 3-D screens, and I suspect that all four of the films you cite did at least half their business in the format). To the best of my knowledge, Pixar does not have technology "that can convert any 2-D movie into 3-D from scratch." And DreamWorks' "Kung Fu Panda" was made and released in 2-D; "Monsters vs. Aliens" was the studio's first in 3-D.

by Roger Ebert

Passes go on sale Nov. 1 for Ebertfest 2010, which will be held April 21-25, 2010 at the restored Virginia movie palace in Champaign-Urbana. The cost is $125, which covers all 12 screenings. The panel discussions are free and open to the public.

I'm hoping that James Cameron's "Avatar," opening in December, will be a terrific film. But I was underwhelmed by about 15 minutes of preview footage I saw in 3-D on Friday night. The same footage has been widely shown around the country.

This is a film that Cameron has had in preparation in one form or another ever since he was filming "Titanic" in 1997. That became the top-grossing movie of all time, raising incredible hopes for "Avatar," reflected in its reputed $200 million budget. Cameron revealed his intention to use motion-capture animation to create several characters who would be entirely computer-generated, and others about whom you could never be quite sure.

by Lewis Lazare
Chicago Sun-Times Media & Marketing Columnist


Ben Lyons and Ben Mankiewicz, co-hosts for the past year of the weekly “At the Movies” movie review show, have been sacked, effective immediately. When the 24th season of the show premieres on Sept. 5, Chicago Tribune movie critic Michael Phillips and New York Times critic A.O. Scott will be seated in the balcony — or whatever’s left of it.

My Answer Man received a question asking if crime expert Jay Robert Nash still holds the theory that John Dillinger was not killed by the FBI in front of the Biograph Theater on July 24, 1934. He does. Nash informs me he stands behind his two books on the subject, and may have met the real Dillinger many years later. RE

by Jay Robert Nash

Will there never be an end to this? Probably not, since the FBI (and no one else) has ever refuted the FACTS (far beyond my theory) I presented in several books about the shooting at the Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934.

A preview of Cameron's "Avatar"--
we find life, and go to war with it
»

A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips
new co-hosts of 'At the Movies'
»

Film wrong! Dillinger not killed
by FBI! Fact: Hoover coverup!
»

The aging of Harry Potter »

The toys that ate Hollywood »


commentary archives

How pleasant to meet Mr. Lear!
The limerick's a form metronomical,

I'd like you to meet your best friend
It was the opening day of the Disney-MGM studios in Orlando. The stars were there with their children. There was an official luncheon at the Brown Derby, modeled after the legendary Hollywood eatery. I was beside myself. I was in a booth sitting next to Jack Brickhouse, the voice of the Chicago Cubs. A man walked over and introduced himself. "Bob Elliott." Oh. My. God. Bob, of Bob and Ray.

The great American documentary
Today, fifteen years after I first saw it, I believe "Hoop Dreams" is the great American documentary. No other documentary has ever touched me more deeply. It was relevant then, and today, as inner city neighborhoods sink deeper into the despair of children murdering children, it is more relevant.
thumbs
recent Two Thumbs Up® reviews
Linked here are reviews in recent months for which I wrote either 4 star or 3.5 star reviews. What does Two Thumbs Up mean in this context? It signifies that I believe these films are worth going out of your way to see, or that you might rent them, add them to your Netflix, Blockbuster or TiVo queues, or if they are telecast record them.

the Your Movie Sucks™ files
Gathered here in one convenient place are my recent reviews that awarded films Zero Stars, One-half Star, One Star, and One-and-a-half Stars. These are, generally speaking to be avoided. Sometimes I hear from readers who confess they are in the mood to watch a really bad movie on some form of video. If you are sincere, be sure to know what you're getting: A really bad movie.
in theaters
9
on dvd
Thirst  (11/17)
Star Trek  (11/17)
The Limits of Control  (11/17)
Humpday  (11/17)
The Exiles  (11/17)
Downhill Racer  (11/17)
Bruno  (11/17)
Up  (11/10)
Orphan  (10/27)
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs  (10/27)
Angels and Demons  (11/24)
Four Christmases  (11/24)
Funny People  (11/24)
A Christmas Tale  (12/1)
The Cove  (12/8)
ebert's dvd commentaries






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